Month: July 2009

The Giants placed OF Andres Torres on the DL (strained left hamstring) and recalled John Bowker from Triple-A Fresno. Bowker wears No.20. His former No.21 will be issued to Freddy Sanchez when he officially reports and joins the active roster tomorrow.

Also, center fielder Aaron Rowand (torn forearm muscle) returns to the lineup after a weeklong absence — but not as the leadoff hitter.

Nobody is going to begrudge Jonathan Sanchez his due because he threw his no-hitter against the woefully bad San Diego Padres.

The Padres might be the worst offensive team in the major leagues. (Kevin Kouzmanoff swung at a ball that hit him. I think the baseball term for that is a Goodwin, although the kids today have been calling it a Schierholtz.) Continue Reading →

There is a Sanchez in the lineup, but it’s Jonathan, not Freddy. To create a space for F-dot Sanchez on the 40-man roster, RHP Billy Sadler was reinstated from the minor league DL and DFAd.

The Giants haven’t added F. Sanchez to the 25-man roster yet. He has 72 hours to report, so the Giants are probably using that time strategically to let his knee continue to heal. That means no corresponding 25-man move is necessary yet

Newly acquired Cliff Lee is not listed among the Phillies’ probable pitchers in the series. We’ll see if that changes.

Aaron Rowand threw from 120 feet and said he no longer feels a knot in his forearm. he could return to center field by the end of this series. And Freddy Sanchez also is expected to be in the lineup by the end of this series, Bruce Bochy said.

Sad news for Randy Winn. His father-in-law passed away Thursday morning. He won’t arrive until game time, but Bochy indicated the bereavement list won’t be used.

Hey everyone. Curtis Pashelka again wrapping up another busy day at the ballpark. The Freddy Sanchez deal was in the works for much of the day before the official word came down shortly before 4 p.m. Sanchez is obviously happy to be joining a contender. The sting of leaving the Pirates was lessened when his good buddy Jack Wilson was dealt to Seattle this morning.

I have to admit, there was some ‘sticker shock’ from my perspective when it was announced the Giants gave up Tim Alderson for Sanchez. Alderson, of course, has the potential to be a quality starter for the next decade, and who knows what the rotation’s going to look like in 2010 beyond Cain and Lincecum.

But I guess this is why you have organizational depth, to make these moves when the opportunity pops up. It’s clear the Giants fan base is hungry for a playoff appearance this season and my guess is it’s only going to take 92-93 wins to earn the NL wild card berth.

It remains to be seen whether Sanchez will play tomorrow. He said it’s possible he may need to rest 2-3 more days to get his left knee fully healthy again, even though that’s not what he or Giants fans want right now.

The Phillies, as you are aware, picked up Cliff Lee on Wednesday morning from the Indians. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Lee will pitch at AT&T Park either Friday or Saturday. If it’s Saturday, that would of course represent a matchup of the two reigning Cy Young Award winners. Pretty sweet.

I’m covering the Giants on Sunday (well after the trade deadline, thank you). In the meantime, I’ll be covering the A’s games on Friday and Saturday, with more trades possibly awaiting.

Do Giants fans want another reliever in Michael Wuertz or Russ Springer, or even Orlando Cabrera to overhaul 3/4th of the infield?

Hey everyone. Just wanted to post a few items about the Freddy Sanchez-for-Tim Alderson trade before I get too caught up in writing the story for Thursday’s paper.

Please post your comments. Was the price was too high? Just right? A steal, even?

“Obviously, this is a kid that has distinguished himself, especially as an All-Star three of the last four years and as a batting champ within that time frame,” Giants general manager Brian Sabean said. “The timing’s great, he’s a player that’s obviously going to help us (now) with this ballclub and hopefully a playoff run into the playoffs. And a little moreso going into the future as we expect him to be with us next year.”

“We gave up a good prospect, that’s the price of doing business,” Sabean said. “This (deal) was a little protracted because of our due diligence, but having said, we want to welcome Freddy.”

“I’m very excited,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I’ve seen Freddy from the other side and you have to appreciate the way he plays the game on both sides iof the ball. He can do a lot of things offensively and moves the ball around well and he’s won a batting title. Something that this club hasn’t had that I feel it needs. He’s a perfect hitter there at second base and that’s what Freddy is.”

The NY Post is reporting that the Giants are “definitely” getting Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez, according to one of their sources. Both mlb.com and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have reported that the framework for a deal was in place Monday, but that the Giants were scared off by Sanchez’ medical reports. The Giants wanted to take a second look at Sanchez’ left knee today. The PPG reported about 45 minutes ago that no deal was yet in place.

Names such as John Bowker, Kevin Frandsen and Jesus Guzman have been bandied about by si.com as guys who might be going the other way.

Hey everyone. This is Curtis Pashelka filling in for Andrew today. Sorry for posting a little later than normal for a home day game, but we just got through talking with Bruce Bochy. We were told he would meet with reporters at 11:30 a.m., but we didn’t get to talk to him until about 11:45, leading to some speculation that something was cooking on the trade front. Alas, when the door opened to Bochy’s office, it was only Jon Miller doing his pregame interview. So no big news to report just yet.

Saw Jack Wilson’s luggage packed as I walked into the ballpark this morning, and he’s trying to get to Seattle as soon as possible with the Mariners hosting the Blue Jays at 1:30.

Ryan Garko gets the start today at first for the Giants, not surprising since the Pirates are throwing lefty Zach Duke. Bochy was asked when Travis Ishikawa might start again, especially since the Phillies night throw three lefties in the series, including the newly acquired Cliff Lee sometime this week. Ishikawa will get his playing time, Bochy said, but didn’t give a specific day as to when he’ll start again. Garko will receive the bulk of the starts from here on out.

Bochy said Aaron Rowand will do some soft toss tomorrow. The team will decide the next course of action depending on how Rowand feels.

Edgar Renteria revealed to me Tuesday that an MRI exam showed a bone spur that will require surgery after the season. He plans to gut through the rest of the year, helped by occasional cortisone shots, but acknowledged the injury hampers him in the plate and the field.

This news was mentioned in yesterday’s postgame notes on the blog, and it’s the lede to this morning’s Giants notebook. But the story did not post on Mercurynews.com, so I’m cross-referencing in case anyone missed the news. You can read the notebook on the Contra Costa Times site. Continue Reading →

Do you remember last year, when the Giants traded Ray Durham to the Milwaukee Brewers?

Search your feelings. You know this to be true. And yes, this really happened last year. It only seems like Ray Durham played for the Giants sometime between Empire and ROTJ.

Anyway, point is, the Giants had the deal done while the Brewers were in San Francisco. But they waited until after the series to announce it and let Ray-Ray jump on Milwaukee’s charter out of town. At the time, Durham called it a classy move. It’s hard enough for a player to wrap their head around being uprooted from their surroundings. It’s even harder when you’re asked to face your former buddies that same day.

Why do I bring this up? Well, it occurred to me the same thing might be happening with Freddy Sanchez. Continue Reading →